Ascent Academies of Utah

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462680772
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
West Jordan, UT, USA
Phone
3852750909
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$36,816,745
Expenses
$34,995,569
Assets
$88,271,956
Liabilities
$88,459,183

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STUART ADAMS (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • CHRIS BLEAK (BOARD CHAIR)
  • STUART ADAMS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TYLER SCHVANEVELDT (FINANCIAL COORDINATOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ascent academies of Utah's schools utilize the schoolwide enrichment model to build a strong educational foundation and to provide an enriching, individualized and varied educational experience to all students.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ascent academies of Utah will accomplish its mission by offering each student an opportunity to find and develop his or her own unique profile of gifts and talents and by providing all employees with exceptional development opportunities through professional learning communities, networking, and partnerships.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 96% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.52; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $29.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.8M reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.